Wetland teeming with life in this remote Corner Country of NSW
In a remote and isolated part of NSW, nature is enjoying a deluge of water still around from floods in Queensland last year.
In one of the most remote parts of New South Wales, a desert has turned into an oasis.
Water from floods in south-west Queensland early last year have flown down the Bulloo River, through the Bulloo Overflow and into Narriearra Caryapundy Swamp, an ephemeral wetland that only fills every 10 to 20 years.
The NSW government purchased Narriearra Station in 2020, which includes Caryapundy Swamp. (Supplied: NSW Government)
The swamp is a 17-hour drive from Sydney to the Corner Country – not far from the dog fence at the Queensland border which forms its northern boundary.
"This is an incredibly healthy system and it's just going through the natural rhythms that it's been doing for tens of thousands of years," river ecologist Professor Richard Kingsford said.
Richard Kingsford says Narriearra Caryapundy Swamp is a very healthy system and one of the most incredible wetlands in the country. (ABC Broken Hill: Bill Ormonde)
"I think it's one of the most incredible wetlands that we've got in the country."
The 70,000-hectare wetland received Ramsar listing in 2021, and is part of the larger Bulloo Overflow.
Professor Kingsford said he thought the wetland had its largest infill ever, as the 2024 floods at Thargomindah were bigger than those in the 1950s and 1970s.
Pied stilts at Narriearra Caryapundy Swamp in 2025. (Supplied: NSW Government)
"We know it's big but when you … survey it from a light aircraft and it takes you hours to go back and forth, you just realise what an amazing natural phenomenon this is," he said.
Survey estimates 300,000 birds
Since the New South Wales government purchased the 150,000-hectare Narriearra Station about five years ago, scientists, rangers and local Indigenous people have been able to appreciate its ecological significance and cultural history.
Professor Kingsford estimated about 200,000 to 300,000 birds were in the area when it was surveyed in October 2025.
Scientists estimate more than 300,000 birds were in the Narriearra Caryapundy Swamp when they surveyed it in October 2025. (Supplied: UNSW)